Indivisible (6 page)

He hung his hands on his hips. “Seeing if you need anything.”

“Not from you.” She had thickened at the waist, and he hoped that meant the ulcers had healed and she could eat. She wore her gray-blond hair loose, having learned the inadvisability of a ponytail early in her marriage. But it made her look old and unkempt.

His brother, Pete, sent her money each month, though he’d gotten as far from Redford as he could. Jonah tried, but she wouldn’t take any assistance from him. And he’d made no escape. Redford was in his blood. He cared about the city he protected, the responsibility he’d been given.

He glanced at the empty chair on the porch.

“You questioning me?”
His absent dad mocked him.

“What happened last night?”

His father’s withering stare.
“None of your business.
”

“Someone died. That’s everyone’s business.”

“
Walk away now. Just walk away.”

“Go.” His mother’s face crumpled, her tone venomous. “Get out of here.”

Why didn’t she go live with Pete or her sister? What could possibly hold her to this place? She went inside and closed the door. He stood long moments, knowing she would watch him drive away, every mile he put between them a gift. He retraced his route back to the cabin.

The sound of a saw greeted him when he walked in his door. “Jay?”

Half Cherokee, half Dane, Jay Laugersen came from the back room, safety goggles hanging around his neck. “You can’t give it up, can you?” One hazel and one husky blue eye gave the impression of superimposed images, a startling contrast in his dark-complected face. He wore his black hair banded at the nape to form a stubby tail.

Jonah tossed his keys on the table. “She’s my mother.”

“And you’re the Raven Mocker’s spawn.” A heart-eating soul-stealer’s offspring was not far off—literally or figuratively. But only Jay could get away with calling him that. Jay had brought him back from the shadow-lands, sweating out the whiskey’s poison and spooning broth and other potions between his parched lips. He had taught him carpentry, making him work his way out of the hole. He had taught him self-respect.

Jonah said, “Hungry?”

“Got steak?”

“What else?” The whole Angus steer Lorraine Goetthe had raised would last until she’d fattened another for his freezer. He kept a week’s worth of beef, most of it steaks of varying thickness, thawed in the refrigerator to throw on the grill when he got off work, whenever that happened to be.

As the steaks seared, he boiled corn and tore lettuce for a salad. Jay had brought O’Doul’s, the nonalcoholic beer that marked you a recovering drunk. They sat on the front porch to eat, these damage-control meals a Sunday afternoon ritual.

They talked and ate and laughed.

The bands around his heart expanded. He might never convince his mother he wasn’t responsible. Ultimately he had been, for daring to hold the man accountable. He shook his head. For now—

His phone vibrated, and with a sigh he checked it. Moser. “I need to take this.”

Hiking up through towering pines along an exuberant, tumbling creek, Tia moved at a brisk pace, planting the walking stick she carried, more to wave at bears or cougars than for assistance on the path. The breeze titillated the trembly aspen and bore the scent of golden banner and Queen Anne’s lace. Thorny wild roses drew a few bees in the sunny patches, and flat-leaf ferns burgeoned in the shadows.

On she climbed, pulling with hands and feet over rocky terrain where the trees thinned, and she drew abreast of their spired tips. The sun beat down beneath the brilliant blue sky. She looked up. With a low drumming of its pinions on the air, an eagle mounted the sky from a crag overhead—her destination. She had climbed it only once before.

“No, you can’t come; you’ll blab it around.”

“I won’t.”
She’d zipped her lips.

“That would take superglue. Industrial strength.”

She had followed uninvited, but he hadn’t gotten mad. When he realized she had made it to the top, he said,
“Well, come on over and have a look.”

She had swelled with the thrill of accomplishment.
“Have you shown Reba?”

“I want to. But she won’t come. The climb is too hard and dangerous.”

I made it
, Tia thought. But Reba was a girlie-girl, weaving Jonah into her feminine spell until he believed her too dainty for real life. Settling into the saddle of the rock, her arm against his, Tia had looked out and thought how much her sister was missing.

Sweat had collected beneath her breasts, down her spine, in the hollow of her throat. The awareness of him had been as heady as the thin air, the steep pitch, the perilous footing. The hint of danger that lay beneath his calm worked on her like the unfiltered sun, burning into her senses, leaving her breathless with wants she could not articulate.

Clenching the walking stick, she halted, suddenly short of breath. Jonah did not own this mountain. But she turned around anyway, shaking.

Six

Two souls with but a single thought, two hearts that beat as one.

—FREDRICH HALM

C
limbing the hill behind Duffy’s cabin, Jonah called out so Moser wouldn’t shoot him. The warning wasn’t necessary. He was in no shape to shoot. “What’ve we got?”

Moser straightened, still white from puking up the contents of his stomach. “Duffy hiked up here, like he does every day, discovered the kill, and thought it weird enough to call.”

This time, the young raccoons were about eight feet apart. They had gotten that far by emptying their body cavities, the entrails having been sewn together. Two of each animal’s legs had been removed at the hip and shoulder socket so that together they had only four.

“It’s like a wolf in a trap, chewing off its leg.” Moser’s voice wobbled.

“Only this trap was another animal as frantic to separate as the first.”

As he had the last time, Jonah took a number of closeups with the digital camera, holding his gorge with difficulty. It appeared that several of the organs had been divided and joined. A more complete connection than the last time when each beast had been left intact. “Our perpetrator has knowledge of anatomy and surgical skill.”

“But why … what …” Moser’s question petered off.

Jonah shook his head. “Let’s get a team up here, do a ground search. Footprints, maybe something dropped by observers.”

“You think it’s a sport?”

“Sport, rite, fetish. I don’t know, but these creatures didn’t get this way by themselves.”

He surveyed the location. The steep slope and dense forestation were not a natural choice for a spectator event, though a half-dozen hooded spectators could have slipped in among the trees for their ceremony and slipped away as silently. He saw no circle of stones or ritualistic markings on the trees. Maybe it was one sick individual.

Duffy’s property bordered parkland, accessible from several trails. He glanced at the one a short distance above. Both times the animals were released near a path or trail. Was there a pattern? a purpose? Or was it simple expediency?

Newly arrived to help with the search. His steel stomach proved once again impervious to stink or gore, but the blood-soaked pine needles, cones, and twigs did not give up easy secrets. Double-pronged deer tracks marked a soft patch, probably a full-grown buck by the depth. They found no wrappers or cigarette butts, no boot prints, no human hairs.

Jonah sent Newly back to his usual duties and told Moser to ask Duffy for a shovel. The photos would show enough. Not long ago, such a crime would have been considered minor. But animal cruelty had gained recognition, and this took it up a notch. Evisceration was dark stuff.

Hands on hips, he scanned, trying to sense the motivation, gratification, whatever the perpetrator was going for. Footsteps crunched behind him, and he turned, expecting Moser, but saw Tia, hand pressed to her nose and mouth. She had approached on the trail just above Duffy’s property from which he guessed the perpetrator may have released the raccoons. He moved between her and the carnage, trying to block both animals. “Don’t look. It’s grim.”

She spoke through her hand. “Dead raccoons?”

“Yeah.”

“Isn’t that Department of Wildlife’s business?”

“Would be, except they were sewn together. This pair had limbs removed and organs joined.”

“What?” She searched his face.

“This is why I warned you not to be out alone.” What if she had happened upon the sicko having his sport? He looked up the trail. “How long have you been hiking?”

“About three hours. You said not to be out after dark.”

Leave it to Tia to find the loophole. He checked his watch. “So you passed here, when?”

“I didn’t.” Her face shifted. “I cut up toward the aerie.”

A reckless hike to take alone. He should never have shown her—not that he’d done so intentionally. The memory came with stark definition. Others may have reached the ledge beneath the aerie, but he’d shared it with no one else. She’d been like a kid sister until that day—or so he’d told himself.

“This is sick stuff, Tia. There’s a sadist out there—”

“Which you didn’t tell me the first time.”

“I’m telling you now. These animals were tortured. And these things escalate.”

Her eyes flashed. “How do you escalate from …” She waved her hand. “To people?”

He didn’t want to speculate. The anatomical element scared him.

“You have to warn everyone, Jonah. Not just me. Tell them what’s happening.”

“Put Redford in a panic? I don’t know what’s happening here.” He shook his head. “Besides, giving him the spotlight might encourage a step he wouldn’t otherwise take.”

“But—”

“Maybe he just hates raccoons.”

Her jaw fell slack. “You know that’s not it.”

“Tia, let me do my job. We’re searching this area for evidence.”

“Found any?”

“Not much. But sooner or later he’ll make a mistake.”

“What if it’s later?”

He understood her concern. But he was not going to put the town in a panic if it was some sick prank. “If I see people alone I’ll caution them, as I did you. Not that it mattered.”

“People need to know why.”

“Some people just listen.” She had no idea how complicated an investigation was. What did she think, he could hang a flier and the guy would turn himself in?

“You might try it yourself sometime.” She shook her head and started back down the trail.

He jammed his hands in his pockets and left Moser to bury the carnage.

From the bench seat encircling an aspen cluster, Piper watched Tia coming down the trail. She had a mountaineer’s physique, toned and slender, sinewy, her tanned legs muscular in cargo shorts and hiking boots. She was not breathing hard, but, by the flush of her face and the set of her jaw, something was wrong.

Piper clutched the paperback to her chest. “What happened?”

“I’ll tell you, but let’s go inside.”

Piper scooped a leaf off the ground and used it as a bookmark, tucked the paperback under her arm, and followed Tia. “Did you see the eagles?”

“I saw something else.” Tia leaned the walking stick into the corner of the mud room. “Two raccoons. Jonah said they’d been sewn together, but they had torn themselves apart. It was awful.”

“What did he mean sewn?”

“Surgically. Legs removed and organs joined together.”

Piper recoiled. “That must be what I saw.”

“When?” Tia hung her jacket on the hook.

“The day I met the chief. On our path. I thought it was a dead animal. That was the night he warned you not to be out. Remember?”

Tia slumped. “I didn’t know it was right on our path.”

“Does he know who did it?”

“I don’t think he has a clue.”

“Maybe we can help. Ask around.” She followed Tia to the parlor, flopped onto the settee beside her. “If we get people talking—”

“Jonah doesn’t want whoever it is getting attention.”

“But someone might know. People brag. They tell me all kinds of stuff.”

Tia slid her a look. “So I’ve seen.”

“I can use that. To investigate.”

“Jonah won’t like it.”

“He doesn’t have to know until we have something to tell him.”

“Piper, this isn’t a game.” Tia pressed the skin between her brows as though staving off a headache. “Those creatures suffered.”

“I know. That’s why I want to help.”

Tia shook her head. “Trust me; this isn’t the way to get his attention.”

“What?”

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed.”

Piper blinked. “He’s cute, don’t get me wrong.” Piper drew up her knees and settled into the corner of the settee. “But he’s not interested in me.”

“Then he’s the only man alive who’s not.” The corners of Tia’s mouth pulled up.

“Guys here are just starved for someone new.”

“You think in a year or two you’ll be old news?”

“A year or two? What would that even be like?”

“What do you mean?” Tia turned.

“I’ve never been anywhere a whole year.”

“Why not?”

She shrugged a shoulder. “We were sort of like … gypsies.”

“Gypsies are not tall, blond Barbie-doll people. You look like you had the all-American family.”

“I do?” She had made friends in most of the different schools, but she’d never thought she looked settled.

“How come you moved so much?”

“Let’s just say my family couldn’t do their thing for long in any one place.”

“What thing?”

Out of nowhere, tears brimmed her eyes. She hadn’t realized the shame was still so close.

Tia touched her arm. “You don’t have to tell me.”

“No, it’s just … amazing how many things you can sue for.”

“Do you mean fraud?”

“Most companies—especially employers—will settle to avoid the hassle. And there’s enough of them working together, sharing the big settlements, that no name comes up too often. Plus, they don’t look like lowlifes. My mom is really beautiful, and when she claims her new boss came on to her, it’s believable.”

“It might be true.”

“What matters is they pay. My aunt specializes in personal injury. My dad and uncle are into auto claims.”

Tia leaned back. “Wow.”

Piper rubbed the tickle on her nose, a nervous reaction to talking about it. “I’m the oddball, a mutant, genetically incapable of lying. Every time they tried to involve me as a kid, I got so worked up trying to keep the story straight that I puked.”

Tia shook her head, bemused.

“I hope you don’t think I’m going to rip you off now or something.”

“Why on earth would I think that?” Tia untied her hiking boots and slipped them off. “I know what it’s like to be the odd one out. In your case it’s a good thing.”

“I’ll bet in your case it is too.”

Tia didn’t answer. “So you went your own way and ended up here.”

Piper nodded. “More or less.”

“Well, I hope you’ve found a place to stay.”

Piper smiled. “I’d like that. A lot.”

Jonah had promised Merv he would check out Tom Caldwell’s shed and went there next. He had tried several times before, but Tom hadn’t been home. This time there was smoke rising from the chimney. He glanced past the house to the shed.

A trickle of sweat ran down his lower back. He imagined the sting of a spider on the nape of his neck. His hands got clammy, and a cloying rage rose up his throat as he stared at a pine shed way too similar to the one in his memories. His nails dug into his palms. His legs came to a leaden stop.

The door of the house opened, and Caldwell stepped out. “Help you, Chief?”

There was a sneer in the way he said it. They’d gone to school together, Caldwell three years ahead of him. Sometimes it wouldn’t hurt to have his dad’s reputation, but he didn’t want to beat people to earn it. “Heard a report you’ve booby-trapped your shed. I need to make sure it’s not a public hazard.”

“Now who would you hear that from, the old suck-up next-door?”

Jonah shrugged. “Just open it up and I’ll be on my way.”

“The hell I will. Not without a warrant.”

“What are you talking about, warrant? I’m just saying show me it’s safe.”

It wasn’t safe. His scalp burned as the hand came down, clawing the hair by the roots, dragging him up.
“I’ll teach you to hide, you miserable whelp.”
He couldn’t hear out of one ear for a week. But that wasn’t what made the shed a terror.

Jonah shook off the memory and stalked toward Caldwell’s shed.

“Stop right there. This is my land, my shed, and I said no.”

Jonah turned, sick with relief to have it out of his sight. “If I come back with a warrant and find so much as excessive pesticide, I’ll run you in.”

Without warning, Merv streaked across his yard with an ax. “This half’s across the line.” He started hacking at the shed wall that faced his house.

Jonah hollered for him to stop. He didn’t know where the properties joined, but this wouldn’t settle the dispute. Caldwell charged, and Jonah charged after him. They reached the wall as Merv ripped out a splintered board. Caldwell shoved Merv to the ground hard enough to rattle his teeth. Just inside the hole, a shelf held bags of yellowish-white crystals.